English stand-up comedian Russell Howard bringing laughs to San Antonio’s Aztec Theatre

Give English stand-up comedian Russell Howard the option of getting an audience to erupt in laughter or give him a standing ovation at the end of his set, and there’s no question which he’ld choose.

“I love making people laugh,” Howard, 44, told the Current during a recent interview. “I’m old school, [and] I’m pretty needy.”

He will get plenty of opportunities to bring down the house when he performs at the Aztec Theatre at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 19.

Howard has performed in Texas before, but this will be his first trip to San Antonio. He describes past crowds in the Lone Star State as “brilliant, vibrant and funny” and “generous laughers” who are “up for fun and have an air of lunacy.”

During our interview, Howard, who’s best known for his TV shows Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour, talked about the first time he remembers making an audience laugh and what he thinks about the current political landscape in the U.S.

For those American audiences not familiar with you, how would you describe your comedy?

I would describe it as observational, topical, personal and family-based. I have two Netflix specials (Recalibrate and Lubricant) that are a pretty good barometer, and I’ve got a new special out at the moment (Live at the London Palladium). I’ve always blended the news and my family and personal life together. That’s probably the best way of doing it. I go for laughs rather than a round of applause.

Do you urge audiences to do their research on you before going to one of your shows?

I’m super lucky that because of my two Netflix specials and my YouTube channel and Instagram, a lot of people, when I perform in America, have a good idea of who I am. But there’s always someone who’s been dragged along, and I like performing for them as well. I’d be happy if people found me by accident.

I read that you studied economics in college. What was your plan before comedy?

I wanted to be a footballer when I was young. In England, it’s kind of the dream. I played football until I was 18, but I wasn’t good enough. I discovered stand-up comedy when I was 16. I remember getting a cassette of comedian Lee Evans, and it absolutely transformed my life. I did my first gig when I was 18. From then, that’s all I’ve wanted to do.

What’s your earliest memory of making somebody laugh?

We have these things in the UK called pantomime around Christmas. So, they’re [shows] like Goldilocks and Cinderella and Snow White. Schools in England do them. I remember doing one of those when I was eight. The main guy performing tripped over me, and when I reacted, the crowd laughed. I remember the feeling of about 100 people laughing. I remember feeling wonderful.

Were you the class clown in school?

At school, I was the classic English kid who was always taking the piss out of other kids [and] making everyone laugh and mocking teachers — all the usual things. It just made me feel alive. I loved it. I said this in my special: Laughter is the lubricant that makes life livable. It’s amazing how in tough times, laughter is like this kind of fire that warms you.

When can laughter be inappropriate?

You know, I remember when my granddad died, at his funeral, my nan had a very sore throat, and she was deaf, so she shouted in the church, “Has anyone got anything I can suck?” And my brother went, “Well, granddad picked the wrong day to die!” The laughter reverberated through the funeral. We all adored my granddad, and we missed him terribly, but that joke was so perfect for my family.

Do you hope people laugh at your funeral?

Yeah, I would hope. I hope they miss me, and I hope they laugh. I mean, I don’t want them to point at the coffin and laugh. That’s not the laughter you’re after. But I think that laughter is just a way of appreciating somebody. A wake should certainly be full of tears and laughter.

What is your reaction as an outsider to everything currently happening in the American political landscape?

A simple way of summing it up is that Britain is not great and you are not united. I’ve been touring across Europe and speaking to people in Slovenia and Holland and Germany where the neo-Nazis came in second in the German election. It’s wild. It’s a frightening and strange time. Comedy is a brilliant way of trying to make sense of it. I find America is definitely setting the news agenda again. It’s like an iPod shuffle of crazy.

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.